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Front Row: Charles Dance, author John Green, French cinema's forgotten man

Charles Dance, author John Green, French cinema's forgotten man

01/02/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Charles Dance, author John Green, French cinema's forgotten man

Actor Charles Dance, theatre in tunnels beneath London, and French cinema's forgotten man.

Arts news with Kirsty Lang. Actor Charles Dance, a new immersive theatre production underneath Somerset House in London, and French cinema's forgotten man Rene Clement.

With Kirsty Lang

The actor Charles Dance is best-known for playing quintessential Englishmen and villains. He reflects on his latest TV role as an ageing former rock-band manager, compares the experiences of working on both sides of the Atlantic, and looks back on his career.

A giant white pet robot and malfunctioning computers feature in In the Beginning Was the End, the latest site-specific production by the theatre company dreamthinkspeak. In the past they have performed in a vast disused department store, and an underground abattoir. The performance takes place in a series of tunnels and offices underneath Somerset House in London. Tristan Sharps, the artistic director of dreamthinkspeak, walks us through the labyrinth of tunnels and the technology that lies within.


Rene Clement was once dubbed the French Hitchcock, his war-time drama Forbidden Games won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1952, the BAFTA for best film from any source and the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. His thriller Plein Soleil is considered to be the best of the many adaptations of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley series. And yet, he is all but forgotten, even in his home country of France. The mysterious case of the disappearing director is investigated by Ginette Vincendeau, Ian Christie and Matthew Sweet.


Producer: Penny Murphy.

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